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Boardman woman battling ALS meets Clinton
YOUNGSTOWN
Christine Terlesky doesn’t know how much time she has left before she succumbs to the fatal symptoms of ALS, but she hopes she will live to see Hillary Clinton become president.
That’s what Terlesky, who lives in Boardman with her husband and three children, told the Democratic presidential candidate in a face-to-face visit with her during Clinton’s campaign stop in the Mahoning Valley last weekend.
A video posted by Clinton’s official Facebook page – and later shared on The Vindicator’s Facebook page – shows the meeting, in which Terlesky tells Clinton that she’s “going to keep fighting until I get to elect you as president.”
Clinton tells her, “Keep fighting, OK? I’m going to need you.”
Clinton then told Terlesky how as president she would invest more money into research for neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, a message that she reiterated in the Facebook post.
Terlesky, who taught and coached at Boardman schools before her symptoms progressed, is living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease), a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. She was diagnosed in 2013.
ALS eventually causes its victims to lose the ability to walk, talk and breathe. There is no known cure.
In the emotional meeting with Clinton, Terlesky told her that she has support from many people living with the disease.
“They’re going to say terrible things, but no matter how hard it gets, there are people that are always behind you, especially the ALS community,” Terlesky said. “I’ve followed you your whole career. You’re my inspiration, so thank you.”
“That means so much to me. Thank you,” Clinton said, beaming, before bending down to hug her.
The meeting was arranged by U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th. He and Terlesky struck up a friendship after she visited him in Washington, D.C., to advocate for the ALS cause, Terlesky said.
Meeting Clinton came about after Ryan texted her to see if she needed anything.
“Joking, I said, ‘I need to see Hillary Rodham Clinton,’ not thinking anything of it. He said, ‘It’s done,’” she said.
Getting the chance to meet the former first lady, senator and secretary of state meant a lot to Terlesky, she said in an interview.
“It was very emotional, because I was able to maybe bring the awareness level to the highest office in the land,” she said.
Speaking over the phone, Terlesky said she was having a bad day with her symptoms, but it wasn’t noticeable in her demeanor. She spoke passionately and articulately about her 20-year-long support of Clinton and the need for more investment into research on diseases like ALS.
“She made a speech in 1995 in Beijing called ‘Women’s Rights Are Human Rights.’ She spoke out against female infanticide in China. She spoke out against different atrocities that were happening to women, and she was the first lady at the time – it was controversial,” she said. “Ever since then, I believed in that cause.”
That kind of stance in support of women is something Terlesky has practiced in her own life, especially as a girls’ basketball coach.
“I try to teach girls their worth – that message always resonated with me. To be strong, to be worthy, to fight for what you believe in. To live up to your full potential,” she said.
It’s an attitude that she carries on now as she deals with obstacles such as losing the ability to walk.
“I’m trying to have a voice and to speak,” she said. “Even though I have ALS, I still want to have that voice. I still want to teach, even though I can’t be a teacher anymore. ... Even though there’s not a cure in my lifetime, I’m going to keep fighting until they find one.”